Woodies: Are They Making A Comeback?

Ford’s Flex crossover mimics the company’s long-departed Country Squire wagon in size and shape. It also looks pretty good in wood.

Have you noticed more woodies on the road lately? I don’t mean vintage collector’s items like a 1940 Ford wagon or a ’46 Chrysler Town and Country with flanks clad in mahogany and framed in white ash.

I’m talking about cars whose bodies are decorated with the kind of fake-wood applique we used to mock for being oh-so 1970s. Only now the stuff is turning up on modern cars. I was recently in line at a parking garage behind a Honda Element with faux-wood panels. I have also seen Chevrolet Traverses, Chrysler PT Cruisers and Ford Flexes with wood-trimmed sides and rear ends.

Speaking of the 1970s (and even the 1980s), woodies of that era are becoming classics and seem to be turning up everywhere. A Ford Country Squire station wagon was the backdrop for a recent L.L. Bean Signature catalog cover and a faux-wood-sided Jeep Grand Wagoneer stars in a Tommy Hilfiger ad. The cars appear to be part of a broad marketing strategy at a number of companies aimed at nostalgic 30- and 40-somethings who grew up with such preppy vehicles before the SUV era of the 1990s.

So far car makers aren’t building wood-tone production vehicles, but there is a growing supply of simulated woodgrain in the automotive aftermarket. The woody panels are essentially decals, often with raised plastic borders. Sometimes they look a lot like the real thing found on cars — station wagons in particular – in the 1930s and 1940s. But they can also look pretty awful, especially on the wrong vehicle. The Honda Element I saw seemed wrong. The Smart car — totally wrong. The silver Ford Flex with warm wood trim? Let’s talk.

Comments (5 of 13)

We would like to do this to our large Nissan NV 12 passenger van (similar boxy style as a Flex, just bigger) that we use as our family "wagon." However, we can't find anyone to do it. Any suggestions? We found someone who could do a vinyl wrap wood grain, but not the raised trim. Help.

11:19 am October 3, 2010

Jogirl wrote :

Cars these days all look the same... every luxury suv is sleek and round. I would welcome back any and all classic designs and details. These days the only car with some originality is the mini. Here's to the days of Wagoneers, Willy's, wood paneled station wagons and all the rest.

8:54 am October 1, 2010

Wood Guy wrote :

Dr. Vegas you are totally wrong. First of all, the US car companies did not make cars (steel or wood)for civilian use during WW II, so your "rationing" idea is way out in left field. Second, the wood station concept goes back long before WW II. Ford procuced the first production wood station wagon for the 1929 model year. Get youe facts straight before you attempt to inpress us with your ignorance.

5:32 am September 6, 2010

One step further wrote :

The Flex needs full moon hubcaps and whitewalls to complete the look. IMHO wood needs to stay on '50s era vehicles, it never looks right on modern ones. The vinyl stick-on kits are especially nauseating.

4:18 pm September 5, 2010

DR.VEGAS wrote :

Car companies seem to recycle the "woody" concept every 5 years or so.It always FAILS. The real woodies were the result of metal rationing during WW2.Most of them ended up termite and rust ridden pieces of junk.